The 'Tesla of buses' just jumped into the self-driving-car race

Proterra is making serious moves to bring heavy-duty buses into
the future.

The electric bus manufacturer is launching an autonomous
driving program with the Regional Transportation Commission
of Washoe County — the body responsible for mass
transit in the cities of Sparks and Reno, Nevada.
Proterra said the pilot is aimed at developing
the algorithms required to launch self-driving buses in a
commercial setting.

"While there’s a lot of interest in autonomous vehicles in the
passenger car market, there has never been a great demonstration
of how public transit can fit into an autonomous world," Matt
Horton, chief commercial officer of Proterra, told Business
Insider.

Horton declined to elaborate on the level of autonomy Proterra is
ultimately pursuing, stating that the startup will only
release self-driving features "at the pace at which our
customers are comfortable with it."

Proterra joins Tesla in the race to explore autonomous tech on
buses.

Tesla plans to build a small, electric bus that can drive
autonomously, CEO Elon Musk wrote in his "Master Plan, Part Deux"
last July. The company has yet to disclose an exact timeline for
the project.

Horton said Proterra is expecting competition from Tesla and
others in the transportation industry.

"Not only Tesla, but almost everybody in transportation today
making vehicles I think is going to have to have very serious
electrification programs," he said. "They’re going to need to be
serious about autonomous vehicles and definitely very involved in
the connectivity of those vehicles."

For the first phase of Proterra's pilot, a battery-powered bus
will operate on specific city routes in Nevada to gather mapping
and localization data. Proterra will then work on refining its
code to ensure the buses can detect obstacles like
pedestrians and other vehicles.

The third and final phase of the pilot is focused on licensing
and commercializing the technology.

Proterra is working with the University of Nevada, Reno and its
Living Lab Coalition on the autonomous driving software. Horton
declined to comment on the kinds of sensors and cameras Proterra
is using on the buses.

Proterra made headlines last September when it launched an
all-electric bus with a
350-mile range — enough to operate an 18-hour route
just like a diesel bus. Proterra has customers in 15 states
across the country and has pre-sold over 300 buses to-date, which
will all be operational by the end of this year.

The startup has raised $280 million
in venture funding from backers like Tao Capital Partners and
General Motor's venture capital arm.

It's easier to integrate autonomous technology in vehicles that
operate in a single lane and on a dedicated route, as opposed to
cars, which make more complex maneuvers that require more
sophisticated sensor technology.

"Transit agencies are going to move toward integrating these
active safety features regardless of the type of vehicle," Horton
said. "It simply comes down to safety."